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bowl brimming over with sections of rice, Korean beef with Sriracha mayo, veggies, and sesame seeds.
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5 from 13 votes

30 Minute Korean Beef Recipe

Guys, there's easy, and then there's this recipe. Korean beef is unbelievably good for how little effort it takes. A pound of ground beef and some Asian pantry ingredients turn into a magical dinner in just a few minutes. Dress it up as much or as little as you want. Rice is a go-to, but you could add any veggies you have in your fridge, like cucumbers, carrots, edamame, broccoli...the options are endless. My new favorite weeknight meal!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4
Author: The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground beef 93/7 is best
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame seed oil or regular sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic about 4-5 cloves
  • 1 tablespoon ginger grated or minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes more or less to taste
  • 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce optional
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar* more or less to taste
  • 1 bunch green onions chopped

Garnishes

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce or your favorite hot sauce, add more to taste
  • sesame seeds to garnish

Veggies you need for a Korean Beef Bowl

  • 3 medium carrots sliced into matchsticks
  • 1 English cucumber sliced
  • 4 radishes sliced very thin
  • 1 (5-ounce) bag frozen edamame

For the rice

  • 1 & 1/2 cups long grain white rice
  • 2 & 1/4 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic smashed and minced

Instructions

  • Start your rice first. Add 1 and 1/2 cups long grain rice, 2 and 1/4 cups water, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon garlic (you can use jarred garlic) to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, with the lid on.
  • Once it reaches a boil (steam escapes from the lid) turn the heat down to low and set a timer for 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, turn off the heat but don't remove the lid. After another 10 minutes fluff with a fork. Leave the lid on until you are ready to eat.
  • Brown the meat. Place a 12-inch skillet over a burner and set the heat to medium high. Add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of toasted sesame seed oil and swirl to coat. Once the pan is hot, add 1 pound of lean ground beef. Stir and break up the meat into small pieces. Keep cooking until all the meat is completely cooked, about 5-8 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium.
    (If you didn't use lean ground beef, take a minute now to drain the grease from the pan.)
  • Add seasonings. Smash the 5 cloves of garlic and mince finely, you should end up with about 1 tablespoon. Grate or mince the ginger until you get about 1 tablespoon.
  • Add the garlic and ginger to pan. Add 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes. If you like just a hint of spice, start with 1/2 teaspoon, if you like things very spicy start with 1 teaspoon. You can always add more flakes later if you like it hot.
  • Stir everything together and cook for 1-2 minutes over medium heat until the garlic and ginger are very fragrant.
  • Add sauce ingredients. Add in 1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, and start with 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Stir it all in and let it cook for a minute or so.
  • Taste it and decide if you want it sweeter. I usually add 2 more tablespoons to make it a full 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Play around with it until you get the sweetness level you like. You can also add any salt or black pepper to taste at this point (but remember, even low sodium soy sauce is very salty so be careful.)
  • Add green onions. Once you have the taste where you like it, turn off the burner. Chop the bunch of green onions. Or, use scissors to snip them directly into the pan.
  • Add about three quarters of the bunch of onions. Mix well to let them wilt slightly with the warm beef. Sprinkle the rest over the top, or reserve for passing at the table.
  • Prep the veggie toppings, if using. Peel and chop 2 carrots into matchsticks.** Slice the cucumbers. Slice the radishes very thin. Follow the instructions on the bag of edamame for steaming in the microwave (it should say to microwave for about 2-3 minutes.) Don't forget the reserved green onions.
  • You can either add all the veggies to individual bowls and have guests build their own dinner, or plate each bowl of Korean beef with the veggies on top.
  • Sesame seeds. Don't forget the sesame seeds! I love the nutty flavor they add. Black or toasted white seeds are really good.
  • Make the sriracha mayo (optional) (but not really). In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and 1-3 teaspoons of sriracha sauce (or your favorite hot sauce) until combined.
    You can thin it with 1-2 teaspoons of milk if you want. Use a spoon to drip over the top of the beef and rice when plating. This mayo is not really traditional with Korean Beef, but I never pass up an opportunity to drizzle my food with sriracha mayo. Don't be a fool.

Notes

*I've successfully swapped out normal dark brown sugar for brown sugar Splenda to cut down on sugar content. Just add it in to taste! You can of course also use light brown sugar in place of dark. Keep in mind with either of these switches, the deeper molasses flavor won't be as present.
**If you are not into raw carrots, saute the matchsticks in a teaspoon of oil in a hot pan for about 7-9 minutes, until softened. Or, follow the instructions for pickling carrots on my Banh Mi sandwich recipe! That would be so good. Daikon would be another great veggie topper for this meal. 
UPDATE: I just tried this recipe with ground turkey instead of ground beef. You should have seen the looks on my kids faces when I told them we were having Korean Turkey for dinner 😂 It was really good! A great option for those who prefer/require lean meats.